The present invention relates to shoes and, particularly to elevating shoes which deceptively give the appearance that the wearer is taller.
Conventionally, elevating shoes are known which give the appearance that the wearer is taller by means of a high sole or a high heel. However, people are reluctant to put on such high heeled shoes, particularly men, because they feel ashamed of putting on such shoes.
In view thereof, there has been proposed elevating shoes in which an inner member is provided in the shoe body but whose heel configuration is maintained in a normal shape. Such shoes are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,370,817.
When the wearer puts on the shoes provided with the inner member, the appearance of the shoes is the same as that of normal shoes. However, the shoes have many problems as follows.
FIGS. 13 to 20 each show a principle in which the problem in walking is explained. FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing a shoe which is described above and which is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,370,817. Although the shoe looks like a normal shoe, an inner member 101 is provided in the shoe and a rearward portion of the inner member 101 is raised higher. When the wearer puts on this shoe, as shown in FIG. 15, the heel bone 103 is located farther backward along a circular arc 105 having its center positioned at the ankle 104 as the upper surface 102 of the rearward portion of the inner member 101 becomes higher. Consequently, the heel bone 103 is further spaced from the axis X--X of the tibia bone.
Accordingly, if the heel of the shoe is designed so as to correspond to the heel bone 103, the rearward bottom edge 106 of the heel of the shoe is spaced far apart from the tibia bone axis X--X as shown in FIG. 16. Indicated at d2 in FIG. 16 is a distance between the rearward bottom end 106 and the tibia bone axis X--X. It will be seen that the rearward bottom edge 106 of the heel in FIG. 16 is located considerably further backward from the tibia bone axis X--X as compared with heels shown in FIGS. 17 and 18. The heels of FIGS. 17 and 18 each have shorter distances d as will be further described hereinafter.
When a person puts on a shoe as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, a greater upward moment 110 (FIG. 14) about the ankle 104 is imparted to the heel bone 103 and generates a reaction force shown by arrow 108 from a ground surface 107 as shown in FIG. 14. As a result, the wearer's muscle receives a large burden and it becomes difficult to walk. This problem is an inevitable defect in this kind of shoe.
As compared with the above shoes, in the case of shoes having a low heel or a high heel shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the distance d is shorter and the rearward bottom edge 106 of the heel is positioned closer to the tibia bone axis X--X, thus assuring easier walking.
On the other hand, in the case of the shoe shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,370,817, more specifically, in the case of a shoe having a normal heel appearance, but having the inner member 101 for raising the height of the wearer, as shown in FIG. 16, the heel bone 103 is located farther backward along the circular arc 105 as the upper surface 102 is higher as shown in FIG. 15. Consequently, the distance d2 is greater, which makes walking more difficult. For this reason, it is hard to raise the inner member 101 to a height which the wearer would desire. In other words, the height of the inner member 101 is limited to a lower position than the wearer would desire.
FIGS. 19 and 20 are similar to FIGS. 17 and 18, respectively, but FIGS. 19 and 20 show the skeletal structure of the foot on a reduced scale and more precisely show the distance d. The distance d is substantially the same in FIGS. 19 and 20.